WHOEVER ordered a week of political chaos to coincide with a heatwave must have a very warped sense of humour indeed.
We should all be lounging in the garden eating ice lollies, not frantically scrolling Twitter to keep up to date with the latest bombshell to drop.
It started – as annoying things so often do – with Boris Johnson. His resignation was the first shockwave, and it was followed shortly after by Nicola Sturgeon being arrested and then released without charge.
We’d all hoped for a wee breather at this point - a protected space of time where we could re-apply the factor 50 and scrape the rust off the barbeque.
No such luck, as Thursday saw the long-awaited release of the Standard’s Committee’s report into Boris Johnson’s partygate antics.
You will have probably caught up with by now but if you haven’t, here’s a recap.
Boris Johnson lied to the House of Commons. He lied to the Privileges Committee. He’s also lied to every woman that has ever visited his bedchamber but that wasn’t actually within the purview of the committee.
Against the backdrop of this turbulent week, FMQs was only ever going to go one of two ways.
🗣️ 'Nobody in this country will forget that Douglas Ross backed Boris Johnson to the very hilt' @HumzaYousaf said the Scottish Tory leader was trying to 'dodge' and 'deflect' from today's report about the former PM pic.twitter.com/usiAiLrmBK
— The National (@ScotNational) June 15, 2023
It would either be a mud-slinging free-for-all or a damp squib – in recognition of the fact that both the SNP and the Tories have family drama going on right now that they’d rather not get into in the Holyrood chamber.
Douglas Ross asked about an important – but somewhat unexpected – issue in his first question, signalling what was to be the start of a shaky truce between the pair.
He asked Humza Yousaf about delays to the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness. He spoke about road traffic deaths along that stretch of road and went on to describe it as “one of the most dangerous roads in the country".
In response, the First Minister said that his government is “absolutely committed” to dualling the A9. He went on to say that it is important that infrastructure projects are good value for money and promised to give an update on progress in Autumn 2023. He finished by offering a “cast-iron guarantee” that the road would be dualled.
Douglas Ross described the First Minister’s response as “one of the most disappointing answers I have heard in this chamber.”
He clearly isn’t up to date with Holyrood business.
That wasn’t even the most disappointing answer to a question offered this week.
Maybe it was this unkind jab that led Humza Yousaf to scrap the “I won’t mention your former leader if you don’t mention ours’ pact. Or maybe it was the fact that it was the final question and he knew Douglas Ross wouldn’t have a chance to reply.
The First Minister made an admirable, if whiplash-inducing, pivot from talking about his new transport team to lambasting Douglas Ross over his party's handling of partygate.
“This is desperate stuff from Douglas Ross who is trying to dodge – no doubt deflect of course – from the serious scandal that his party is engulfed in,” he said.
“With Boris Johnson not just lying to the House of Commons, but betraying the people of this country and of the UK. When they couldn’t visit a loved one, when they couldn’t attend funerals of a loved one, Boris Johnson was breaking the rules and having parties in Number 10.
"So Douglas Ross can try to deflect, he can try to dodge, but nobody in this country will forget that Douglas Ross backed Boris Johnson to the very hilt."
